Fire-escape



(No Model.)

L. SLOUGH.

FIRE BSGAPB.

No. 409,511. Patented Aug. 20, 1889.

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T d @www UNITED STATESA PATENT OEEICE.

LOUIS SLOUGH, OF VEHLLSVILLE, NEV YORK.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 409,511, dated August20, 1889. Application filed April 13, 1889. Serial No. 307,078. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS SLOUGH, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Tells- Ville, in the county of Allegany and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and eX- actdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of this invention, andshows the manner of operating the iire-escape- Fig. 2 is a verticalsection through the block. Fig. 3 is a view of the inside face ofone-half of the block. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken where thebroken line 0c is marked on Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of oneot the chairs or baskets.

This invention has relation to nre-escapes; and it consists in the novelconstruction and combination of parts, as hereinafter set forth, andpointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates a window-frame,and B the friction-block, through which passes the rope (l, having ateach end a basket or car D.

The friction-blockB consists of two sections E E, of iron, and the ironsheave F, having the journals G, which work in the bearings H in thecentral portion of the upper part of the sections, the sheave beinginclosed between the sections in the chamber l, formed by the circularrecesses J J in the upper portion of the sections.

Communicating tangentially with the sides of the circular recesses J Jare the curved lateral grooves K K, which approach each other toward thewaist portion L and diverge, as at In m, below said waist portion, thediverging branches of the grooves terminating in reversely-curved ends an, which are open at the lower ends of the sections, as shown. When thesections are secured together, these grooves have their middleconveXities turned toward each other, and curved friction-passages areformed thereby for the ascending and descending branches of theescape-rope C.

The inward curves of the passages bear upon the rope according to thetension made on said rope, and the reVersely-curved open end portions afn, allow the rope to move into and out of the block on vertical lines,so that there will be no angular or abrupt frictional contact at thesepoints to injure the rope.

rlhe sections E E are secured together by means of screws S, asindicated, and washers Y are placed on the journals ot' the sheavebetween the saine and the walls ot the ren cesses J.

To each end of the escape1'ope Gis attached a basket or car D, which maybe made in seat form, as shown, and should be provided with anextension-cord V, designed to afford means of steadying the car or seatwhen handled by some person below on the sidewalk. This additional ropeor cord V also affords a means of applying tension to the escape-ropewhen it cannot be done by direct action upon the escape-rope itself.

The frietioirblock is provided at its upper end with a strong ring oreye Z, through which is passed the attachment-rope, whereby it issecurely connected to a stron g hook or bracket at the top of thewindow-casing. Over the hook or bracket the escape-rope and itssteadycords may be coiled, so as to be ready for use whenever required;or the friction-block may be rigidly secured by strong screws to the topof the window-casing.

In using this lire-escape the rope is drawn through the block until oneof the baskets or cars is brought close to said block, and the otherbasket is then dropped from the window to the sidewalk with the longerbranch of the escape-rope, and the steady-cord connected to this basket.The steadycord of the upper basket is also let down out of the window,and the person wishing to descend takes hold of the longer branch of theescape-rope .and gets into the basket attached to the shorter branch, inwhich he can easily let himself down at such rate of speed as he maydesire by manipulating the longer branch of the escape-rope to increaseor lessen its tension, and thereby its frictional engagement with thecurved grooves of the block B. Whenever anyone incompetent to manage theescape-rope is to be let down, the tension on the escape-rope can be ICOregulated by some person in the street below through the medium of theextension-rope or steady-cord of the descending,` basket, While theextension-cord of the ascending` basket can be manipulated also by someone in the street to hold this basket steady in its descent.

Having described this invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1S-.

A .fire-escape comprising the recessed Sections liaving the curvedfriction-grooves tangential to the recesses of the sections, theintermediate sheave in the recesses, and the screws securing` thesections together to form the friction-block, having the inwardly-conveXpassages terminating in reversely-curved open end portions, theescape-rope having at each end a basket or car, and the extensionropesor steady-cords attached to the baskets O1* cars, substantially as shownand described. In testimony Where of I ax my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.

LOUIS SLOUGH. IVitnesses:

GEO. C. ROSA, LOUIS D. BROWN.

